Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said on Thursday that if no commercial solution is found, Lukoil's operations in Romania will be very difficult to carry out once the sanctions imposed by the United States government, which also target this Russian oil company, come into force.

'We are in a situation where, if no commercial solution is found, Lukoil's operations in Romania will be very difficult to carry out because any company working with Lukoil, if financial flows are not very clearly separated, will risk falling under these sanctions. And think of the major companies that work with Lukoil, think of Romgaz, which is a partner with Lukoil in a project in the Black Sea area, then there are the hundreds of companies that supply various goods to their networks and that would probably be the last option. It is in a certain dynamic, a working group is dealing with these issues, but let us see next week what decisions are made at global level, mainly by the United States, whether this decision will still apply at the end of this month or will be postponed for a certain period of time,' Bolojan told Euronews Romania.

The head of the Executive says this issue should not lead to an increase in fuel prices.

'We should not face such situations because the refinery, let us say, which Lukoil owns in Romania, is currently shut down so it is not operating and Lukoil's share is significant but not such as to create major problems. In any case, these disruptions, in one form or another, direct or indirect, affect certain markets in the region. There are other countries, such as Bulgaria, where Lukoil's share is much higher, including in the area of the Republic of Moldova, and this was also a topic I discussed today with the Moldovan prime minister, Mr Munteanu,' the head of the Government added.

The United States Department of the Treasury announced on 22 October sanctions against the two main Russian oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in response to 'the lack of a serious commitment from Russia regarding a peace process to end the war in Ukraine'.

The two companies were already sanctioned by the United States but this time the sanctions have been extended to their subsidiaries and affiliated companies in which they hold a stake of more than 50 percent, directly or indirectly. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Anamaria Constantin; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)